When Weyrwoman Maenida of the High Reaches comes to grief during Threadfall, the repercussions are disastrous for her entire Weyr. The Fighting Wings suffer crippling losses, and even the Lower Caverns are left in turmoil. With the Weyrwoman facing a long and slow recovery -- at best -- Weyrleader Sh'vek's options are limited. When Rahnis of Ista is brought in to assist junior weyrwoman Delene in the running of the Weyr, she and her weyrmate M'ton soon discover that their new responsibilities are even harder than they imagined. But for some people, it's not all bad news: bronzerider F'ren finds himself in a position to make a real difference for the better, for the first time in turns...and he has no intention of resting on his laurels, no matter how hard his Weyrleader tries to stymie him.

Thread, however, cares little for human politics.

All Thread does is kill.

Thread! Dragons! Sex! Politics! Death! How else can I sell this fic to you? Consistent, gritty worldbuilding, in a Pern where Thread is an ever-present threat to life and limb. Characters who are variously flawed, intelligent, stupid, brave, callous, strong and weak, characters who are forced to make choices, who sometimes make the wrong choices. Characters who grow. World-changing events, and events that touch only the hearts of those involved. And a promise in the very title: the worst possible crime the Pernese can imagine.

Chapter 9: M'ton is finding his feet with his new responsibilities
Chapter 10: The Lower Caverns of High Reaches Weyr are definitely not running smoothly
Chapter 11: While his Weyr readies itself to fight Thread, M'ton has other things on his mind
Chapter 12: Vallenka has a mess on her hands
--end of part 1--

Chapter 13: F'ren isn't being paranoid. His Wing really IS out to get him.